Marines and Reporters Get a Scare

[thedrifter]

Marines and Reporters Get a Scare
Chemical Weapons Alerts at Kuwait Camp Turn Out to Be False Alarms

By Susan B. Glasser
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, February 27, 2003; Page A21


CAMP RIPPER, Kuwait, Feb. 26 -- "This is not a drill! This is not a drill!"

Within seconds, hundreds of Marines milling about Camp Ripper pulled gas masks on. They started running toward their tents. The lengthy PX queue disappeared. The Marines were convinced they were responding to a chemical attack in the Kuwaiti desert south of Iraq.

"This is for real, ma'am," one Darth Vader-voiced Marine said through his mask.

A crowd of reporters, many without gas masks, looked on as Marines swore this was not a test. The reporters snapped pictures of the masked-up Marines and wondered what to do. Running Marines herded one set of journalists into a tent, then returned to order them out of the camp.

"This is not a drill," Capt. Joseph Plenzler shouted as a line of sand-battered, four-wheel-drive vehicles beat a hasty retreat.

It was the second chemical weapons scare in less than two hours at Camp Ripper, a sign of the times as a U.S. military force of more than 110,000 is in Kuwait awaiting word on whether and when it will be called to attack Iraq.

Civilian life in Kuwait proceeds with seeming normality for the 2.3 million residents. But in the U.S. military encampment that occupies much of the country, a chemical attack in the middle of a sunny day does not seem far-fetched. All U.S. personnel are required to keep their gas masks and chemical protection suits with them, even if all they are doing is drinking fresh-squeezed orange juice at the beachside Hilton resort that serves as the military press center.

During the Persian Gulf War, which 12 years ago today liberated Kuwait from Iraqi rule, false alarms were common. But technology was supposed to be better this time. Practice drills are routine in the military camps, but today's miscue showed equipment flaws can still occur.

At Camp Ripper, about 25 miles south of the border, the first false alarm came around 10 a.m., when a neighboring unit not connected to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force conducted an unannounced drill.

About 20 reporters were waiting at the gate to enter the camp. In honor of Kuwaiti Liberation Day, the Marines had rounded up a dozen Gulf War veterans to talk about how they felt being back in the desert. Instead, the warning came over the radio. Marine public affairs officers pulled on gas masks, then ordered reporters to don their own gear or leave.

"Drive south," one Marine urged. "Leave now."

No one left. About two-thirds of the journalists had brought gas masks. As the others wondered what to do, TV crews and photographers with their masks on shot pictures of other journalists donning their masks.

"This was not a drill," Plenzler said. "We've done a bunch of drills before. But this is the first time this has happened when it hasn't been a drill."

After an anxious half-hour, the all-clear was given, along with an explanation that there had been a communications mix-up.

The second false alarm came an hour and a half later as Gunnery Sgt. Nick Hentges was finishing an interview. He was talking about the looming war and what it might be like to charge into Iraq. He was imagining the Kuwaiti border with Iraq. He was thinking about the plight of the Iraqi front-line soldiers on the other side of that border.

It was 12:15 p.m. An officer nearby sounded the alarm. Within seconds, Hentges was crouched on the ground, gas mask on, yelling out the warning to others who had not heard. Kneeling next to him in the sand, a photographer snapped away. He had no gas mask. Hours later, the Marines put out a statement. "Chemical detection equipment falsely detected the presence of chemical agents," it said.


? 2003 The Washington Post Company


Sempers,

Roger